Restoration (A Walking Dead Fan-Fic)

Chapter 12

A/N: Thanks to Stacey73, Tatyasdias, angelicedg for reviewing as well as to those who Favorite/Followed Restoration. :) Here in the next installment. Rated M for mature.

Enjoy.

Restoration: Chapter 12

Rick raced through the tombs as fast as his legs could carry him, weaving between snarling walkers in the darkened halls as his heart hammered in his chest, his team following closely behind. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. They were together an hour ago.

I shouldn't have left. I shouldn't have left her!

After things had managed to settle down, Rick had gone searching for Alexis. Despite her assurance that she would soon follow, she never did. He figured she went back to check on Judith, but Beth hadn't seen her since before the fire nor had the others, which only fueled his panic.

He clambered up the steps to the south tower. Nothing. Where in the hell could she have gone? He turned to leave but came to a sudden halt. A Zippo lied on the floor. He walked over and picked it up.

One down, Allie. How many more?

He flipped it over.

Meet me in the tombs. Alone.

The fire was a set up.

His knuckles went white, as if gripping the lighter on the brink of crushing it might stop her from doing this. His chest was painfully tight. The teeth gnashing frustration that only Alexis could elicit. But under all of it was love.

No it couldn't be. He wasn't in love. He wasn't.

He didn't want to be in love, but he was starting to realize that there really wasn't any other explanation for his actions. Perhaps it had started as pure lust, but somewhere along the way, his heart had gotten involved and the Sheriff had done something he swore he would never do again.

He was in love.

He turned around and retraced his steps, racing back down the concrete steps and out into the inner courtyard where he assembled a team of four consisting of Daryl, Michonne, Glenn and himself and gave a quick rundown on the situation, promising to inform the rest on the details later.

As they entered Cell Block C, Carl rushed out of the tombs, panting and disheveled. He explained he followed Alexis into the tombs where they had encountered Dominic. He'd sworn Alexis was behind him when they had fled from the boiler room but when he turned, she was no longer there. He went for help.

As worry plagued his thoughts, so did unwanted memories of this room. He hadn't stepped foot in there since Lori's passing.

He pushed the door open to the boiler room and cautiously stepped inside. The room was empty. He found evidence of a struggle including two sets of bloody footprints, one set noticeably smaller than the other.

Rick shoved a hand through his hair. "Ah, God."

He had her. Despite all his assurances to keep her safe, the sonofabitch took her right from under him. God knows what he was doing to her right now. He was afraid she was crying out in pain, calling for help, and Rick prayed he wasn't too late.

Daryl stepped in, saw the same and then lowered his bow.

"Fuck."

"He won't kill her, right?" Glenn said worriedly.

"No," Rick said. "Victor will want her back alive, but she won't be for long if we don't get to her before he does."

Across the room, Rick picked up the pistol from the floor, immediately identifying it as Alexis's. However, it was a lot lighter than he remembered. No. That couldn't be right; he specifically remembered instructing her on how to reload the magazine. No cartridges should be missing. He unloaded the magazine; it was empty.